Multi-indorsement-restricting device for voting-machines.



PATENTED MAR. 5, 1907.

} w. M. DELAVAN. MULTI-INDORSEMBNT RB-STRIGTING DEVICE FOR VOTING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED OUT.15, 1906.

INVENTOR ATTORNEY E S. B N Th W.

Tm: NORRIS PETERS 60., wasunvsronl, b. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLARD M. DELAVAN, OF PITTSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGN OR TO TRIUMPH VOTING MACHINE COMPANY, OF PITTSFIELD, MASSACHU SETTS, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

IVIULTl-lNDORSEIVIENT-RESTRICTING DEVICE FOR VOTING-MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 5, 1907.

Application filed October 15, 1906. Serial No. 338.907.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, XVILLARD M. DELAVAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsfield, county of Berkshire, State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Multi Indorsement Restricting Device for Voting-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object to provide restricting means operative in connection with the voting members of a voting-machine in group voting to prevent a plurality of votes being cast for a candidate who has been nominated by a plurality of partiesthat is, has received multi-indorsement.

The term group voting is used to de' scribe a style of voting which permits voters to vote for more than one candidate for the same officeas, for example, in voting for a plurality of members of a board, commission, court, or a delegation of two or more members. Suppose as an illustration that four members of a board are to be elected and that four political parties have each made four nominations for the four positions to be filled. Specifically the special grouping mechanism used is not of the essence of the present invention. It is sufiicient for the purposes of this specification to state that any grouping mechanism applicable to a votingmachine Whose voting members comprise oscillatory shafts may be used and that the function of grouping mechanism broadly is to so connect up the voting members corresponding to the names of candidates to be voted for in a group that a voter may cast all his votesin the present instance fourfor the nominees of one party or may cast one vote for one nominee of each partyin brief, that a voter may cast any number of votes up to four, and may cast one vote each for any four he may select out of the sixteen candidates in nomination. This is ordinary group voting.

My present invention is applicable to a voting-machine or a portion thereof set up for group voting when one or more of the candidates nominated has received multiindorsement that is, has been nominated for the same oilice by two or more political parties; and the object of the invention is to prevent What is termed in English voting plu1npingthat is, the casting by a voter of a plurality of votes for one candidate.

The present invention, in connection with suitable grouping mechanism, leaves the voter free to cast one vote each for any four of the sixteen candidates nominated, but only one vote for any candidate no matter how many indorsements he may have received.

With this end in view I have devised the novel restricting device which I will now describe, referring to the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this specification, and using reference characters to indicate the several parts.

Figure 1 is a rear elevation of a portion of a votingmachinein the present instance a Triumph voting-machine-illustrating the voting and counting mechanism, and in connection therewith my novel restricting device; Fig. 2, a horizontal section of the front plate and standards of a voting-machine, showing the voting and counting mechanism in plan with my novel restricting device applied thereto; Mg. 3, an end elevation, on an enlarged scale, of one of the rocker-arms de tached, the locking-key being shown in place; Big. 4, a plan view corresponding therewith, the locking-keybeing removed; and Fig. 5 is a detail elevation illustrating the operation of a series of rocker-arms in connection with the restricting flexible member.

I have illustrated an arrangement of a voting-machine in which the names of party candidates are placed in vertical columns or lines and the names of the candidates for the same office are placed in horizontal lines. It should be understood, however, that the present invention is equally applicable to a machine in which the reverse arrangement is adoptedthat is, to a horizontal machine, so called, in which the names of the party candidates are placed in horizontal lines and the names of the candidates -for the same oflice are placed in vertical columns or lines.

10 denotes the front plate of a voting-machine, and 11 standards back of the front plate.

50 denotes voting members as a whole, each voting member comprising a shaft 12, an operating-lever 13, a locking-lug 14, and a counter-dog 15. The shafts of the voting members are journaled in the front plate and in bearings 16, which extend from the standards, the locking-lugs lying between the front plate and the standards and the counter-dogs lying contiguous to the ends of bearings 16. The voting-member shafts are extended inward beyond the counter-dogs for a purpose presently to be explained. Lying intermediate the front plate and the standards and corresponding with each horizontal line oi voting members is a wedge-bar or resetting-slide, (indicated by 17,) a restricting-bar, (indicated by 18,) and between said bars a flexible member, in the present instance a chain, (indicated by 19.) One end of each flexible member is connected to lixcd vertical bar 20, and the other end is connected, by means of a turnbuckle 21, to a movable plate 22, lying between vertical plates 23, which together comprise wiiat is termed the grouping-column.

24 denotes counters carried by counterbars 25. The shaft 26 of each counter carries a disk 27, eecentrically placed thereon, and each disk is provided with a pin 28, which passes into a hole 29 in the corresponding counter-dog when the latter is moved to the counting position by the o oration oi.

voting. In practice the counter-bars, carrying the counters, have imparted thereto an endwise and. lateral rotary oscillation by means of exit mechanism and connections, (not shown,) which are operated by the voter as he leaves the machine, whereby each vote cast by operation of a voting member is counted by the corresponding counter. 30 denotes party-bars, the operation of which causes an entire part vote to be cast by a single voting operation.

In group voting, as already stated, the voter is permitted to vote for more than one candidate for the same oflicc. It not ini'rcquently happens, however, that a candidate comprising one of a group of candidates has been nominated by a plurality of parties, and his name therefore would appear in two or more party-cohunns. With grouping mechanism as ordinarily constructed should this condition arise a voter would be able to cast tWo votes for a candidate who had received double indorsement, three votes for a candidate who had received triple indorsement, and so on.

In order to prevent the possibility of any voter casting more than a single vote for a candidate no matter by how many parties said candidate may have been placed in nomination, I have devised the novel multiindorsement-restricting device, which I will now describe. As already stated, the vetingmember shafts are extended beyond the counter-dogs.

3]. denotes rocker-arms, which are rigidly secured, as by keys, to the inner ends of the saaole voting-member shafts in the horizontal line corresponding with the oflice for which a candidate has received multi-indorscmcnt. This rocker-arm. carries at its ends pins 32, which are shown provided with rollers 33.

3d denotes a restricting flexible membcr in the present instance a metallic strip which passes under one and over the otherpin 01' each rocker-arm in a horizontal line. end of the restricting flexible member is shown as connected to a scrcw-pin 35, which is adapted to engage any one of a series of holes 36 in one of the vertical plates 23, and the other end as connected to a head 37 upon a screw 38, which is adadtcd to engage either of a series of holes 39 in a vertical angle-plate 40. The screw passes 'l'rcely through the holes in the angle-plate and is adjusted in and out by means of a nut 41, which bears against the angle-plate. said nut being set after adjustment by means of a set nut 42. It will of course be understood that it is immaterial to what portions oi the 1nachine the ends of the restricting flexible member are connected.

In practice all of the voting-member shal'ts that are subject to grouping are extended bcyond the counter-dogs and are provided at their inner ends with rockerarms, which in regular voting and in ordinary group voting have no function. In case a candidate in a group receives multi-indorsement-lor example, is nominated by two or more parties for the same oflicea restricting flexible member is placed in position to cooperate with the rocker-arms in that horizontal line. Having placed the restricting flexible member in position, it is adjusted by means oi nut ll to give to said restricting flexible member just suflicient slack to permit one voting member in that horizontal line to be operated, as clearly indicated. in Fig. 5, so that should another voting member in. that horizontal line be operated the slack in the restricting flexible member would be taken out from the place where it was placed by the voting member first operated and would be put in a new place by the operation of the second voting member, thereby unvoting the first vote cast.

It should be understood that in setting up the machine the name of the multi-indorsed candidate would be placed in the same horizontal line in each party-column. As shown in the drawing, the restricting flexible mem ber may be easily changed from one horizontal line cl voting members to another. It will oi course be understood that the principle is the same whether the multi-indorsed candidate receives a double, triple, or quadruple indorsement. In the present instance I have illustrated four party-columns only; but it not infrequently happens that there are more than four party-columns, and it might happen that a candidate in group voting received. more than a quadruple in- One dorsement. My novel restricting device, however, would prevent more than one vote being cast for any candidate no matter by how many parties he might have been nominated for the same offlce. Should it happen that two candidates in a group to be voted for should receive multi-indorsement', the names of these candidates would be placed in different horizontal lines of voting members and a restricting flexible member would be placed in position to coact with each of said horizontal lines.

In order that the operation of my multiindorsement restricting device may be clearly understood, I will repeat that it is only used in group voting and that in groupvoting with the type of machine illustrated the flexible members 19 in the group are all slackened, so as to permit all of the votes for the group of candidates to be cast in one horizontal line if desired. This construction is perfectly operative and meets all the requirements of group voting, unless one or more of the candidates has received multiindorsementthat is, has been nominated by two or more political parties. In that event the name of the multi-indorsed candidate is placed a corresponding plurality of times in the same horizontal line in the proper party-columns and a restricting flexible member is placed in position to cooperate with the voting members of that horizontal line, the said restricting flexible member when properly adjusted eflectually preventing more than one vote being cast for the multi-indorsed candidate.

Having thus described my invention, I claim the voting members, pins on the rocker-arms,

and an auxiliary flexible member passing under one pin and over the other on each rocker-arm, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

2. In a voting-machine, the combination with voting members and a flexible member engaged thereby, of rocker-arms carried by the voting members, pins on the rockerarms, an auxiliary flexible member passing under one pin and over the other on each rocker-arm, and means for adjusting said flexible member to produce sufficient slack therein to just permit the operation of one voting member in a line, so that when asecond voting member in that line is operated the vote cast by the operation of the first voting member will be unvoted.

3. In a voting-machine, the combination with voting members and a flexible member engaged thereby, of rocker-arms carried by the voting members, pins on the rockerarms, an auxiliary flexible member passing under one pin and over the other on each rocker-arm, and detachable and adjustable means for securing the ends of said auxiliary flexible member.

4. In a voting-machine, the combination with voting members and a flexible member engaged thereby, of rocker-arms carried by the voting members, pins on the rockerarms, an auxiliary flexible member passing under one pin and over the other on each rocker-arm, a removable pin to which one end of said auxiliary flexible member is connected and a removable screw with an adjusting-nut to which the other end of said flexible member is connected.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

1. In a voting-machine, the combination with voting members and a flexible member engaged thereby, of rocker-arms carried by WILLARD M. DELAVAN.

W itnesses CHARLES C. ABBOTT, ARTHUR B. CAMP. 

